Puerto Rico: Doctors moving to the US mainland

The exodus of doctors is part of a larger wave of professionals who have left the US island territory in recent years, settling in states such as Florida and New York, where there is a big demand for bilingual workers, especially police and nurses.

Many Puerto Ricans also seek to escape a wave of violent crime and higher cost of living. Almost a million more Puerto Ricans now live on the mainland than on the island.

Plus, for the medical professions, living in the mainland also brings more immediate access to local seminars, symposia and conferences in their specialized fields, particularly for those in magnet areas like New York and Houston.

Obamacare is not a factor, though, since all regulations would be the same in the 50 states and Puerto Rico.